CORTICOSTEROIDS OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD1

Abstract

THE presence of adrenal steroids in peripheral blood has been established by bio-assay (Vogt, 1943; Paschkis et al., 1950) and by chemical determination (Hemphill and Reiss, 1947; Corcoran and Page, 1948; Wick, Hillyard and MacKay, 1951; Nelson, Samuels, Willardson and Tyler, 1951). Adrenal venous blood of the dog contains 17-hydroxycorticosterone in sufficient concentrations to enable isolation and identification (Reich, Nelson, Zaffaroni, 1950). The small amounts of corticosteroid in peripheral blood have discouraged attempts at characterization. However, extracorporeal dialysis by the artificial kidney (Kolff, 1947) and peritoneal lavage (Grollman, Turner and McLean, 1951) techniques have enabled us to obtain, in a partially purified state, a fraction of the total corticosteroids from a relatively large volume of peripheral blood. Paper chromatography of extracts of these dialysates has permitted partial characterization of certain known corticosteroids. EXPERIMENTAL As part of another study, two male dogs weighing 20 and 22 kg. respectively were bilaterally nephrectomized. One of these (No. 36–93) was maintained by regular dialysis with the artificial kidney